Moving On
by A. Lee
Summary: HIATUS Usagi's parents and brother die, so she's adopted to America, but has she gone paranoid? Why does she see Generals everywhere? Now revised for easier reading.
1. Tragic Events

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay, but for those who have bothered to read my notice, I was on hiatus. I only edited a couple of places here and there in this chapter, mainly correcting grammatical errors, changing sentences to fit my purposes, and fixing a couple of "Oh-my-God-why-didn't- Usagi-just-do-that-instead" things. You know what I'm talking about. The kind those nitpicky people notice (mostly in movies and books, actually) where there's a much simpler solution. So Usagi's parents are not dead, but in a coma. I have made it a bit more realistic, and I hope you enjoy it. I would like to say, however, that my knowledge of law and medicine is very, very small. My knowledge of magic is even smaller, so if my reasons sometimes seem somewhat convoluted-that's because I'm trying to justify myself. And Fanfiction.net is being particularly ornery today.  
  
An ethereal figure stalks the moon day after day, mourning what is past. She feels herself flicker, and knows that her time as a shade is ending. Soon, she shall join her husband and her old friends in the Fields of Elysian, and will no longer be able to watch her daughter's life as easily. She gazes sadly once more at the figure of her daughter, crouched on a park bench down on Earth. "I'm sorry, my daughter, for what will befall you in the future, but even Pluto's words cannot overrule destiny." And with that, she disappears.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi sat straight up and shivered. She had been dozing on the rather comfortable park bench as she waited for her Mamo-chan, but something (she was not sure what) had startled her. She had the strongest feeling that she had had an important dream, but she couldn't remember what it was. Shaking it off, she rubbed her neck, and saw Mamoru in the distance. Smiling brightly, she immediately got up, brushed herself off, and ran to greet her beloved.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi hugged herself as she began the deep pondering she only sunk into occasionally when there was no manga around to occupy her mind with. This school year was over, and she had a period of break before she began going to school again, and accumulating detentions. There was, of course, nothing to do during this break. She would normally be spending every day with her Mamo-chan, but he had already left for Boston, where he would be attending Harvard, after much negotiation. The entire Galaxia incident had been hard to explain away, but finally, after he completed a fifty-page term paper to submit for re-acceptance into the prestigious American school, he was continuing his school year there.  
Rei was considering furthering her Shinto training by temporarily transferring to a secluded temple high in the mountains, if her Grandfather could convince his old friend to accept her. The only problem with such an arrangement was that there would be no technology around for miles, as well as no running water, electricity, or other such luxuries. Rei was willingly to go through it all, but she was unsure of whether she would be able to teleport to Tokyo in case of trouble. Ami had already departed for a prestigious school in Germany, a school which had offered her a scholarship once, and was now offering it again. This time, Ami had no senshi duties to worry about, and after consultation with her friends, she accepted the offer. Makoto planned to spend her entire summer occupying her time with her new summer cooking class and her summer martial arts class. Both classes were time-consuming, and she was looking forward to them, Usagi could tell. Minako was moving back to England (taking Artemis with her) thanks to the random whim of her father's boss, who had decided to transfer his only bilingual employee back to the foreign country in which he had lived for a number of years. Which meant that the only Inner Senshi left in Tokyo was Makoto. And Rei, of course, but Rei would most likely be leaving soon  
Who knew where the Outers were? Setsuna had gone back to watching the Time Stream, mumbling something about a converging of Destiny. Haruka and Michiru were on their latest world tour (their famous violin-and-piano duet was widely applauded all over the world), taking Hotaru with them. Hotaru was growing older now, although her growth spurts seemed to have calmed down for the time and being. She did not seem to suffer any adverse effects from her childhood and past lives, thankfully enough, so whenever the social worker questioned her (which was annually), she was able to convey a general sense of being secure in her surroundings. It was kind of amusing, actually, but Hotaru was a bright young girl, and could probably talk circles around the uncaring social worker (what an oxymoron if there ever was one) if she felt like it.  
Usagi sighed. It was getting cold out. She had best be heading home, where she had a loving (if sometimes annoying . especially when she was trying to cover for senshi business) family waiting for her. She was getting up and stretching, about to follow her own advice, when Naru rushed over.  
"I'm so sorry, Usagi. I'm so sorry," Naru gasped, tears welling up from her eyes. She had the look of one who felt such a deep and profound pity that it reached beyond compassion and sympathy into a sort of empathy (but different, of course.)  
"What's going on?" Usagi demanded, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Why did Naru look so worried? Something horrible must have happened. Immediately, her mind ran through all sorts of possibilities. Maybe Ami's plane had crashed. No, that was impossible; Ami's plane had landed a week ago. Maybe her Mamo-chan was undergoing some sort of crisis in that unstable country called America. Maybe Makoto was injured. Maybe, maybe, maybe .  
"Your parents," Naru choked. "The hospital . they were in a car accident. We've been looking all over for you!" She gestured frantically towards a figure in the distance that Usagi could barely make out as Mrs. Osaka.  
"Where," Usagi stood up frantically. "Where are they? Take me to them. What's going on!"  
"My mom's over there, waiting," Naru said. "Hurry!"  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi was at the hospital within seconds, Mrs. Osaka only all too willing to give her a ride. Naru was the one who went up to the nurse at the front desk, and asked her the exact details of what had taken place, and how critical of a condition Usagi's parents were in. When Naru learned all she needed to know, she headed over to calm the frantic Usagi. Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino had been in a car accident. The couple had been shopping with Shingo, and were on the way home when some driver (most likely someone drinking and driving) had accidentally run them off a bridge and into the river down below. The driver and his car had then disappeared, but someone had had the sense to jot down a license plate number, so he or she wouldn't walk free for his crimes. Usagi's parents and brother were in critical condition, all suffering from burns from when the car's gas tank had exploded, broken bones and spines from when the car had hit the water, and much water in their lungs. They had almost drowned, and had spent more time underwater than most people. She also told Usagi which room number they were to be found in.  
Usagi rushed into the hospital room, only to see her family covered with gashes and bruises, and covered with IVs and other medical equipment to ascertain their current condition, and when they were about to plunge into that gaping chasm referred to as death. They looked quite frightening, all bandaged up, and with so many needles stuck into them, that Usagi involuntarily shied away a few steps, before nervously approaching her family members with wariness.  
"Are they going to be all right?" she anxiously asked a nearby nurse, who was monitoring their heartbeat even as a group of doctors debated the best course to take nearby. Apparently, her mother's injuries had called for immediate surgery, and that had taken place. She could possibly get better after a lot of therapy and a lot of money. Her father and brother were in deep comas, and showed no signs of stabilization.  
The nurse looked at her kindly. "Don't worry," he reassured. "The best doctor here, Dr. Mizuno, is looking after them. She's a miracle worker, and they'll be better in ." He trailed off, obviously unsure of how long it would take the doctor to heal them. "Well, they'll be better if things go on like this."  
Usagi bit her lip and waited. Before long, Rei and Makoto rushed in.  
"Oh, dear," Makoto said. "Are they all right?"  
"They're probably going to die," Usagi wailed. And she began crying.  
"I'm sure that's not true," Rei consoled. "They'll make it through. They're your parents."  
"You can use the Imperial Crystal," Makoto suggested.  
Usagi's sobs stopped somewhat. "I can, can't I?" she said finally. Taking off her broach, she carefully examined it as it glittered in the sunlight. Unsure of how exactly to go about it, she clasped her hands around it, closed her eyes and prayed.  
Soon, she felt the subtle feel of the moon broach at work. "I think it's working," she brightened, opening her eyes.  
At this moment, Dr. Mizuno walked in. She looked tired as she looked at her daughter's friends. "Well, Usagi, your brother and father are alive."  
Usagi sighed with relief.  
"They are still in a light coma, however," Dr. Mizuno continued. "They and your mother will require lots of time and therapy and it is possible that your father will remain in a coma forever."  
Usagi's happiness and elation faded. "But-" her lower lip trembled.  
"They will most likely heal," Dr. Mizuno hastened to reassure the young girl, "but it will take an incredibly long amount of time. Until they are fully healed (and the funds will be paid for by the government), you will have to stay with some of your relations."  
Usagi frowned. "I don't think I have anyone to stay with, besides my friends. Mom was an only child, and Dad never talked about his family. I think both sets of my grandparents are dead, and Dad could have been an only child. I would stay with Mamo-chan, but he went back to Harvard. Ami's in Germany, and Minako in England. Rei's going to the mountains soon, and the Temple will be rented out to other people for a while. Makoto can barely afford to keep herself alive with the funds from her late parents' deposit-besides, I don't want to be a burden. Couldn't I live alone?" She politely ignored Makoto's protests that she wasn't a burden . she knew that Makoto received a monthly allowance that was beginning to run out, and that the senshi of Jupiter needed to save money and work part-time to pay for her expenses and to save up for college.  
"I'm afraid that since you're not of age yet, that's out of the question," Dr. Mizuno asked kindly. "If you wish, you can stay in Ami's room in our apartment until permanent arrangements can be made."  
Usagi thought seriously for a moment, and nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Mizuno."  
"It's nothing," Dr. Mizuno said. "After all you've done for Ami, being such a good friend and keeping her from becoming a sociopath, I should thank you."  
Usagi blinked. "What's a social path?"  
"Never mind," Dr. Mizuno chuckled.  
"You can come over to my house whenever you wish," Naru said. "Your friends will always be here for you." Naru, of course, would have volunteered her house immediately had it not been for the fact that her "house" was composed of three rooms squashed together above the jewelry store. One was a restroom, one was a kitchen, and one was the bedroom she and her mother shared. The living accommodations were the most convenient, if not the most comfortable.  
"Meanwhile, I'll have to look for your relatives," Dr. Mizuno said. "Do you want to spend some time with your parents?"  
Usagi sniffed and then nodded.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi was on her bed, examining her broach. She had healed the most serious of her parents' injuries, but had not done more after calling Ami. According to Ami, too much interaction with interference magic can shut down a non-magic person's systems. Although her crystal could nudge along her parents' progress, it could not actively participate in the healing more than bi-monthly. As Usagi was running this information through her head, thanking the stars that Ami had access to the Lunar Library (which was not a physical library, but as computer-accessible only).  
Someone knocked on the door. Usagi tiredly got up to open it, and saw Dr. Mizuno. "Hello, Usagi," she sad.  
"Hello, Dr. Mizuno," Usagi said.  
"I've inquired into where you can stay," Dr. Mizuno said. "As I am your temporary guardian, I was the one to whom they imparted the information. Social services have finally found relatives of yours that you can live with. Apparently, your father had a half-brother, who lives with the rest of his family in the United States. They are American, and have agreed to take you in."  
"Family?" Usagi breathed. "But how come I've never heard of him?"  
"Apparently, they weren't the best of friends," Dr. Mizuno said. "Your half-uncle's parents didn't depart on the best of terms. Your half- uncle, however, is willing to let bygones be bygones and welcomes you to live with him in St. Louis, Missouri."  
"America?" Usagi whispered, going over the idea in her head. "As in the country where everyone speaks Swiss?"  
Dr. Mizuno bit her lip. She could see her daughter's exasperation with this girl, sometimes. "Umm. no. It's the country where everyone speaks English."  
"English?" Usagi wailed. "I don't know a word of English." Or perhaps, she should have specified, she didn't remember a word of English. She took English in school . but that didn't mean she remembered anything she learned.  
"There's another problem," Dr. Mizuno sighed. "The last of your things will be auctioned off, like your house, which is in your parents' will in case of injury [and I believe that's impossible, but it's necessary for the purposes of my pot]. In this last month before you are to leave, I'm afraid you have to bring a couple of grades up, including your math, science, and history grades if you wish to join in their school at tenth grade, instead of repeating ninth grade. Your teachers have been kind enough to mail in make-up work you can do to supplement your ordinary scores."  
"Bring my grades up within a month?" Usagi wailed. "That's impossible!"  
Dr. Mizuno smiled softly as the young teenager's melodrama. "My daughter has volunteered to tutor you over the Internet if you need, and has also suggested a couple of competent students who would be more than willing to help you. You have but to bring your grade up to what the Americans consider a C average, and the make-up work mainly goes over what you have learned in school. Ami also sent you some materials to help improve your English. These are some of those 1-2-3 guides to English, and series of tapes she thought would help, as well as a manual on the difference between British English and American English since the English they speak in the U.S. will be different from what you learn in school."  
Usagi's face was crestfallen. "How am I going to learn English and bring my grades up?"  
"I'm sure you will accomplish it in not time," Dr. Mizuno said kindly. "Is there anything you need?"  
Usagi shook her head. "No, thank you," she said politely. "I have some calls to make and some studying to do."  
As Dr. Mizuno closed the door, she looked wistfully around her. She would have to move to America, and continue the gentle healing process from there, even as she sought to keep up her grades and keep up with the curriculum. How in the world would she manage this?  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi looked nervously at all of her friends who had congregated. Rei and Makoto were there, as well as Motoki, Reika, and Unazuki. Naru was there, too. "Bye, minna," she said. "I'll miss you." She sniffled.  
"Go on, Usagi no baka," Rei said, her eyes filled with tears. "And remember, we'll always be here for you."  
"Bye, Usa-chan," Makoto whispered. "I hear they have a lot of hot guys over there. Be sure to save one for me."  
"Bye Usagi-chan," Motoki smiled, arm around Reika, Unazuki by his side. "We'll miss you."  
"Sayonara!" Usagi called one last time, getting on the plane to Germany.  
As she got on, she suddenly gulped. She hoped Ami would remember to get her and help her find the right plane to Connecticut. As she hesitantly found her seat, she found that a kindly old lady, who immediately inquired after her, sat next to her. They had a very nice conversation for the duration of the trip.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi hesitantly got off the plane. Ami never forgot anything, but what if she forgot to pick her up? She would be stranded in the middle of Germany!  
"Guten Tag, Usagi!" Ami called out.  
"Ami-chan! Konnichi'wa!" she called out excitedly. Now that Ami was in sight, she scolded herself for every doubting that Ami would not come. After all, wasn't it Ami who suggested that she take a rather roundabout route so as to see some of her close friends before confronting a strange family she had never met before.  
"How was your plane ride?" Ami asked pleasantly, smiling at her friend's antics.  
"They served virtually no food," Usagi pouted. "Remind me never to eat airplane food. It's poisonous."  
Ami's eyes twinkled. "Well, since your plane was early, and your next one is late, we have just enough time to eat at this café."  
"Food," Usagi said eagerly. "Where?"  
"Come on," Ami laughed, glad to be with her friend again. As they walked briskly, she asked, "So, how's your English?"  
Usagi made a face. "Well, I made my C's, so I can go to 11th grade like I'm supposed to, and I guess I'll do alright. Minako's been helping me. Those tapes you sent were really helpful."  
"Thank you," Ami said in perfect English.  
Usagi screwed her face up, and after a couple seconds responded with a shaky, "Your welcome."  
"That's good," Ami said. "In America, you'll speak it all the time, and soon, you'll be caught up in no time."  
After a pleasant conversation in which Ami reassured Usagi that her new family would adore her, their time together was up.  
"Flight 173 is now boarding," a voice came over the intercom, before promptly repeating it in several other languages.  
"Oh, we must have lost track of time," Ami said, surprised. "That's your flight. Hurry up or you'll be late!"  
"Nani?" Usagi asked. "Late? Oh no!" She quickly gathered her stuff. "Which way?" she asked worriedly, confused at the incomprehensible German facing her at every which way.  
Ami shook her head, and pulled Usagi left as they rushed to the boarding area. They made it just as the last passenger was boarding.  
"Sorry we're late," Ami said in German. "We lost track of time." Then she hugged Usagi. "Sayonara," she reverted to Japanese. And then, to test Usagi's English, "Have a nice time!"  
"Sayonara Ami-chan," Usagi called. She rushed to her seat and promptly got into it and fell asleep.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi awoke to someone nudging her. A young man with blue-black hair smiled at her. "Thought you might like to know that we're at Connecticut now," he said in English.  
Usagi's eyes blinked open. "Nani? Connecticut?" she asked. Oh! I'm in Connecticut already. She paused. "Thank you," she finally said in heavily accented English.  
The man smiled. "It was nothing."  
Usagi quickly gathered her things, and got off the plane. "Mamo- chan!" she called. "Where are you?"  
"Usako," a voice called out behind her.  
She turned around eagerly and over the sea of heads, saw her boyfriend. She also saw a whole bunch of other girls eyeing him like vultures. It did not fail. No matter where he was, Mamoru always attracted eyes-what Usagi did not know was that she also attracted the eyes of the opposite sex. "Mamo-chan!" she said excitedly, and promptly rushed over and gave him a famous Usagi bear hug.  
"So, how was the plane ride?" Mamoru asked.  
"Okay," Usagi shrugged. "I'm hungry, though. I slept through the whole thing."  
Mamoru shook his head. "You're going to have some trouble with jet lag. Anyways, I was thinking that since your next plane doesn't come for six hours, you might want to have lunch with me."  
Usagi glanced up at Mamoru eagerly. "Sure! I'd love to."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi sighed. The lunch had been nice, if not as romantic as she would have liked. She and Mamo-chan had just talked, and she had managed to dry up the last of her worries for now. Now, she was on a plane to St. Louis, Missouri, to meet the aunt, uncle, and cousin she had never known.  
She bit her lip as the plane began to touch the ground, but she was almost used to it now. She had already been on three planes . Japan to Germany, Germany to Connecticut, and Connecticut to Missouri. As she got off of the plane, she had no idea what to expect. Her eyes scoured the area, wondering what exactly her relatives would look like. She gulped.  
Suddenly, her eyes caught on a largish sign with a hopping bunny on it. Underneath, it said, "Usagi Tsukino." Usagi smiled. As she made her way over, she scanned the family she would be staying with.  
Her Uncle Frederick had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Her Aunt Megan had auburn hair and green eyes. Her eyes searched for her cousin, Mark. Her eyes fell on a young boy around Mamoru's age who was standing beside her aunt and uncle, and her stomach plunged. Malachite, her mind hissed. What in the world was he doing here?  
There was no mistaking it. That silver, longish hair and green eyes belonged to those of the former Dark Kingdom General Malachite. She gulped. Malachite . Mark . her cousin was a Dark Kingdom General?  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mark casually glanced at his watch impatiently. He had no time to be doing this. He made a face. Whatever possessed Princess Serenity to reincarnate him into an 18-year-old body after defeating Beryl? He had had to relive 2 years as an adolescent . and those two years had taught him everything he needed.  
He supposed he should have been gracious that she let him live and had given him a second chance. He knew that once he reached the right age, he was supposed to go with his other friends and become Guardians of Prince Endymion again. He also knew that it was possible she hadn't even done it, and that her Silver Crystal had done it as an afterthought. Whatever the reason, he and his friends Zach, Nick, and Jordan were now suffering the agonies of teenage adolescence and rediscover the horrors of hormone-driven puberty.  
As Jordan often put it, Princess Serenity had given them the worst punishment possible-having to go through puberty again! As Nick often put it, Princess Serenity had shown them she had forgiven them by letting them relive the age at which they had started to become corrupted by Beryl, allowing them to start their lives over. All he knew was that having this new cousin in the house would definitely cause some problems. If she wasn't a sound sleeper like his parents, she might wonder where he went to the in the middle of the night, and he couldn't exactly say, "Oh, I'm turning into a Guardian of Earth and defeating youma."  
He made a face. Where was this cousin person anyways? His eyes roamed the crowd, bored.  
"Hello, Uncle Frederick," a warm, slightly accented voice said. "Hello, Aunt Megan."  
He turned around to see a girl four years his junior with platinum blonde hair and diamond blue eyes. She was young and innocent, and smiled warmly at his parents. He smiled, and introduced himself. "You must be Usagi. I'm your cousin, Mark."  
Usagi turned around and looked at him. Her smile remained frozen on her face, but her eyes radiated hostility. "Hello, Mark." Her voice was level, not indicating any reason for this strange wariness, and yet exuded a challenge.  
Never one to reject a challenge, though he didn't know why it was being offered, he responded, "Hello, Usagi. It's a pleasure to meet you." His voice was pleasant, but his eyes were probing.  
"The pleasure's mine," Usagi said in a warm voice, but Mark could feel that she tense and ready to run as he shook her hand.  
Inside, he wondered why exactly this girl mistrusted him from the beginning.  
"My, you are the polite one, aren't you?" his mother gushed. "It'll be such a pleasure having you around! Mark only stays during the summer now, and her house does get so lonely."  
"Thank you," Usagi said, with a nervous smile that said she probably only understood half of what her Aunt just said.  
"Come on," his dad said. "We have to get your luggage."  
Usagi frowned, as if trying to puzzle something out. "Luggage," she said slowly. "Luggage," she finally said. "My bags?"  
"Yes," his dad said.  
"Okay," Usagi said brightly.  
As they walked over, Usagi was silent, mostly due to her lack of knowledge of the English knowledge, and partly because she wanted to analyze this Malachite-look-alike. Was he Malachite? Was he evil? Or was it a coincidence.  
"Can you recognize your bags?" Uncle Frederick asked Japanese, to Usagi's delight.  
"Yes, Uncle Frederick." Usagi responded in English, because she had to practice it.  
Uncle Frederick chuckled. "Just call me Uncle Rick, or Uncle if you feel like it."  
Aunt Megan smiled. "And I'm Meg . Aunt Meg if you feel uncomfortable calling me by just my first name."  
Usagi smiled, grateful that her new family was as understanding as her friends had reassured her they would be. "Thank you. That's my suitcase." She pointed to an overly large bunny-shaped suitcase covered with pink moons and stars.  
Mark sighed, eyeing the overstuffed bag warily. He was really going to regret volunteering to help get Usagi's bags earlier. Together, the four of them began tugging at Usagi's bag . and tugging . and tugging. "It won't come off!" Mark groaned. He found it extremely irritating, as they had to walk around the ramp as they attempted to pull the bag off, or the conveyor belt would carry the suitcase away and they would not see it again until it came around again.  
All at once, Jordan, who had heretofore been missing, showed up. He smiled brightly, put his arms around the handle of the suitcase and gave one huge tug. With the combined efforts of him and the rest of the family, the suitcase fell off of the conveyor belt with a thud.  
"What took you so long, Jordan?" Mark wanted to know. Jordan, Nick, and Zach had professed to a desire to see his cousin (perhaps because she was from Japan, and they wanted to know if anyone remembered the Dark Kingdom Generals-and which one of them she thought was "hottest"), so they had come along. Upon arriving at the airport, his three friends had promptly disappeared, with different reasons.  
Jordan rolled his eyes. "Where else? The bookstore-place. I saw this magazine with a picture of a really n-" He stopped and glanced at Mark's parents. "A really new car," he amended. "Nick's probably in the restroom because he had ten gallons of coffee this morning, and Zach is probably having raptures over the zucchini-flavored muffins the airport offers." He wrinkled his nose, while Zach, for some reason, adored zucchinis, he found them a bit distasteful-after all, they belonged to the most disgusting vegetable family.  
Usagi had paled at the sight of Jordan. Her lips formed a word that Mark could not make out above the noise of the airport, before her paleness faded and straightened up. She pointed to another equally large suitcase. "That's mine, too."  
Mark groaned. "Wanna help, Jordan?" he asked. His voice was dry, as he wondered how exactly he was supposed to haul off the incredibly large suitcase on his lonesome (his mother and father had left after the first suitcase, as her mother had a sudden need to go to the restroom, and his father 'thought he saw an old friend').  
Jordan shrugged. "Might as well."  
"That's mine, too," Usagi pointed at another suitcase that appeared in the distance.  
"How many suitcases do you have?" Mark complained, even as Nick and Zach showed up behind Usagi.  
"Five."  
"Five?" Zach asked, eying the one suitcase on the floor rather warily. "Are they all that big?"  
"Just four of them," Usagi said, after a startled moment in which she looked at Zach and nick with something resembling suspicion.  
Everyone began to feel tired already.  
"The fifth one's even bigger," Usagi said brightly.  
Everyone groaned.  
As Zach, Nick, Jordan, and Mark began making a game of getting Usagi's bags off of the luggage rack, Usagi was thinking of what she was witnessing. Why exactly were Malachite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite still alive, and why were they masquerading as 20-year-olds, getting her luggage from the luggage belt. Speaking of luggage . Usagi frowned. Maybe I shouldn't have packed so much . or maybe I should have packed my things into smaller bags. She winced as her last bag, the particularly large one, and fell right on top of Mark, Zach, Nick, and Jordan.  
"Daijoubu ka?" she asked when she ran over.  
"Pardon?" Jordan asked.  
"I mean, are you all right?" Usagi inquired.  
Nick grumbled. "Next time my friends suggest some good deed, remind me not to go along with it. No sirree, Nicholas Starr is tired of being injured and bruised and aching all over just because his friends are a bit curious. The stars say so."  
Usagi tensed at that, remembering the peculiar phrase Nephrite had been apt to mutter before he sent another vicious youma at them. Although she could have misheard, and he could have said, "The Starr says so," she was absolutely certain that was not what he said. Nephrite, her mind screamed. She only smiled a weak smile, wondering how in the world she was going to get any schoolwork done with the Generals right next door.  
The aforementioned Generals returned her smile, but they were curious at her backing away at Nick's phrase. Why was this girl so tense? Nick's joke was one only the four would recognize, but why had this girl reacted so strangely to it? It was only one of more mysteries to come.  
  
To be continued . 


	2. Aurora Borealis

Author's Note: My guilt has finally prodded me to begin the revision of chapter two. This is changed more than the previous chapter was, but the basic plot remains the same.  
  
Mark looked next door apprehensively. The one bad thing about summer vacation was that it was h*ll trying to sneak out of the house, even when you were on official superhero business. Jordan (as Jadeite) had just telepathed to him that one of the more intelligent monsters of their latest adversary was attacking Zach (having sensed his high magi-energy level), and Zach could not battle the monster all on his lonesome. When fights like this occurred during the school year, it was easy to slip out of Washington University's dorm rooms, people rarely questioning the antics of a hormonal young adult male. He was in his house, however, and unlike before, he had a half-cousin (or something like that) sleeping next door.  
He looked at the window once again, and suppressed a sigh. Usually, he'd be out the downstairs door by now, but he had a feeling that Usagi, or Serena, was a light sleeper (A/N: He obviously doesn't know her very well!), and he really would rather not risk it. That meant that he had to go out the window. He hated jumping out of windows with a passion. His window didn't even have a convenient tree near it! No balcony, no windowsill to speak of, even. Bracing himself, he carefully peeled open his window screen, and winced, knowing he would have mosquitoes in his room soon. Leaping out, he landed softly, in a practiced maneuver.  
He looked once more at Usagi's window, checking to see if she was awake. She wasn't. "Malachite! Guardian of the Earth . Revert!"  
Slowly, his boxers (what he had been wearing previously) melted to form the costume of Guardian Malachite. A mask similar to Tuxedo Kamen's covered his eyes and upper facial features. He wore something akin to a long-sleeved shirt and slacks, but they were specially enforced with armor that would protect him under most circumstances. He also had a cape (like all well-known superheroes) and a saber, for that was his favorite weapon (if not necessarily the weapon he was best at).  
He glanced around him once more, before bounding off into the darkness.  
Not long after he left, Usagi noiselessly opened her window as well, and leapt off skillfully. Luna had long ago taught her how to draw on senshi powers even when untransformed to perform small feats such that. She checked her surroundings, shivered as a wind blew past her, and ran off, shadowing Malachite, but making sure he never saw her.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi was hidden in a tree, watching and biting her fingernails as she watched Malachite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoisite battle the youma. It hadn't taken her long to figure out who they were, and it took less time for her to figure out that they were good. Why else would they be trying to kill a youma? She desperately wanted to transform, but knew she was way out of her league. The youma was not one she was sued to, defeated by magical attacks in a jiffy. This one seemed less prone to collapse into dust with a wave of her Moon Scepter (or Moon Tier, or whatever her current weapon of choice was), but more vulnerable to physical attacks.  
During the Silver Millennium, she had only shallowly been instructed in self-defense, enough to get her out of a sticky situation but that was all. In her present life, most of her fighting skills came on instinct, called to her when she transformed and when she was in danger. Somehow, she did not find that very comforting. Plus, although the Generals didn't recognize her as Usagi-Serena, they would surely recognize her as Sailor Moon. Although the Generals weren't giving off bad vibes, it wouldn't do to trust them just yet.  
So what was she going to do? If she jumped in as Usagi, that was asking to be mutilated. If she jumped in as Sailor Moon, she would reveal her identity and suffer the same chance of being seriously wounded, perhaps losing the energy required to heal her parents and brother at the next scheduled date. Either way, unless the youma was distracted enough for her to fire the final attack, it wouldn't work. Then, there was the fact that she had accidentally left her Crystal back at her new home. That was not good. Usagi berated herself for such a careless, rookie mistake. She should know better!  
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow. Slowly, the shadow revealed to be more than a shadow. She was a girl. She had dark auburn hair and pale blue eyes as well as a vicious smirk on her face.  
She stepped out. "So, boys. Are you finally ready to meet the Creator?" Although her tone was sneering, her reference to the "Creator" was almost reverent.  
The four Guardians of Earth glared at her. Guardian Jadeite scowled. "What do you want, Aurora?"  
"Now is that any way to talk to my twin?" a sweet voice asked as another girl materialized, looking like the twin of the first, but with black hair and purple eyes. Usagi frowned. Something about the two twins did not ring true.  
"Are you here too, Borealis?" Guardian Zoisite asked. "What's so important?"  
Aurora and Borealis stepped next to each other, and merged into one. This lady had golden brown hair and blue-violet eyes. "Ah, Generals. I'm just here to deliver my daily threat. That's all." Usagi gasped in sudden recognition. They were not two twins merging into one, but one woman who had the power to become split personalities. No wonder her vague sensing of their auras had been confused.  
"But Dark Lady Aurora Borealis," Guardian Nephrite protested sarcastically. "You forgot to send an invitation."  
"You are this close to pushing me over the line," Aurora Borealis threatened, pushing her well-manicured fingers together.  
Guardian Malachite shook his head. "Was there something you wanted?"  
  
"Tomorrow," Aurora Borealis declared. "Tomorrow, I shall test you again. I will kill you! And in one month exactly, my master the Creator shall come, and he shall obliterate you for defying him!"  
Guardian Malachite looked at her with contempt. "You say that every day, and you name the exact same day. Yet you never attack. I'm beginning to think you're weak."  
"Argh!" she screamed. "If this weren't my shadow, I would destroy you right now!" So saying, she vanished.  
Meanwhile Usagi thought to herself. If that's the best they can do, they're going to need some help from me. Dark Lady Aurora Borealis didn't seem very intimidating, but the youma had certainly wounded the Generals a great deal. She couldn't provide them help in her present state, but she knew where she could get help .  
  
++++++++++  
  
To: Vbabe@luvgoddess.net  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Disguise  
  
Hey, V  
I need a favor. See . the Dark Generals are here, but they're actually good now, and they're Guardians of the Earth, and they're fighting against bad guys, but they're kind of going to lose unless I help them, but I can't appear as Sailor Moon, and I need to regain my skills from the Silver Millennium, but most importantly, I need a disguise. Send me one please.  
Bunny  
  
To: Smartone@icelady.com  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Disguise  
  
Hey, Ames  
V's probably already told you everything, but I need help. I know back in Tokyo, we were naturally disguised, but it won't help much this time, since they'd probably be able to figure out my identity in a sec because they technically know who I am already. They just need to remember. So I need to disguise myself, and I need help.  
Bunny  
  
To: Firepriestess@shinto.net  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Disguise  
  
Hey, Pyro  
The others have probably already briefed you on the situation . but do you know how to disguise my aura & my powers? Thanks.  
Bunny  
  
To: Talismanholders@outersrule.org  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Disguise  
  
Hey Haruka-chan, Michiru-chan, Setsuna-chan, and Hotaru-chan  
What's up? Look, I need to know how to remain unknown and disguised, and since y'all are so good at it, could you send me some advice? Thanks.  
Bunny  
  
To: Guardianofstrength@karate.com  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Disguise  
  
Hey Mako,  
I need help on my fighting. Could you send me some brochures so I can change my style, etc? Thanks.  
Bunny  
  
To: Rosedude@myonlylove.org  
From: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
Subject: Briefing  
  
Mamo-chan  
Thought you might like to know that 1.) I love you and 2.) Your former protectors are here fighting the bad guy . and they definitely need help. Luv ya as always, and was wondering if you could help me with some corny speeches. JOKE!  
Your true luv,  
Usako  
  
A/N: So . who wants the next chapter? 


	3. Blaise's Place

Author's Note: In a sudden onslaught of diligence .  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Vbabe@luvgoddess.net  
Subject: Re: Disguise  
  
[Hey, V  
I need a favor. See . the Dark Generals are here, but they're actually good now, and they're Guardians of the Earth, and they're fighting against bad guys, but they're kind of going to lose unless I help them, but I can't appear as Sailor Moon, and I need to regain my skills from the Silver Millennium, but most importantly, I need a disguise. Send me one please.  
Bunny]  
  
Sure, Sere! *flashes V sign*  
'Kay. Here's the deal. I've already got a way mundo cool disguise costume in the mail. 'Course, if you think it's too flashy (which for some reason, Luna does), you can always use a.) the disguise pen Luna's sending you 'cause she thinks that you might need it more than us _after all_, b.) know how I had a pen to transform to Sailor V? Well, Luna & Artemis are sending you one, but YOU get to decide your name, and c.) Luna's ALSO sending you an overseas communicator (send it back if it doesn't work so we can fix it) and a funny gadget that can project holograms of you elsewhere, and has the glamour thing that we have on all our costumes, though it's a special type that only allows certain people (not including the generals) to see through it. I think that should be enough to satisfy you.  
The Goddess of Love and Beauty (who is desperately in need of a boyfriend)  
P.S. I'm also sending some notes on how to *keep* a disguise, since you're not exactly great at doing that . like no more speeches and keeping in the shadows . do a TK (Tuxedo Kamen) gig, without the corny speeches . Only show up when the good guys need it. Btw, bad luck struck. I'm back in England. *pulls a sad face*  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Smartone@icelady.com  
Subject: Re: Disguise  
  
[Hey, Ames  
V's probably already told you everything, but I need help. I know back in Tokyo, we were naturally disguised, but it won't help much this time, since they'd probably be able to figure out my identity in a sec because they technically know who I am already. They just need to remember. So I need to disguise myself, and I need help.  
Bunny]  
  
Hey, Usagi.  
When will your school start? Do you think you can manage it? Is your English getting better?  
All right . on to the serious agenda. I think I can send you a "gizmo" that will improve your English and get rid of your accent whenever you put it on, and it can be disguised. However, Usagi, I must stress that you can only use it when you fight the youma. If you wear it normally, they will notice your change in your knowledge of English. If you wear it even once accidentally, they will notice it. So you MUST NOT use it unless disguising your voice when fighting the youma.  
Amy  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Firepriestess@shinto.net  
Subject: Re: Disguise  
  
[Hey, Pyro  
The others have probably already briefed you on the situation . but do you know how to disguise my aura & my powers? Thanks.  
Bunny]  
  
First of all, _Meatball Head_, don't call me PYRO!  
Second of all, try to AVOID computers next time. If you need to contact me, use the communicator. I'll be at the Shinto Temple Training Center {A/N: stay with me here} and no technology is around for miles. I'll be bringing my communicator as one of my personal items.  
Third of all, disguising your powers is easy if you use the new pen Luna's sending you. Disguising your aura is another matter. Hiding your aura would take Shinto training, and you haven't had any, so I'll try to make do. Basically, calm down. Practice meditating. I know you already see auras somewhat. Most people do. You know how out of the corners of your eye, you'll see flickers? Most people see this once or twice on people with really strong auras, and put it away as their imagination. Well, this is what you do. Try to imagine a silver light surrounding yourself. That's your aura. Imagine it until you can feel something warm in it. What you want to do is disguise that aura. Try practicing moving that aura. Disguising your aura is only imagining it a different color temporarily, or changing the "tone" of it. However, *don't* practice this unless you're far from any of the generals. They may sense it.  
Mars rules!  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Talismanholders@outersrule.org  
Subject: Re: Disguise  
  
[Hey Haruka-chan, Michiru-chan, Setsuna-chan, and Hotaru-chan  
What's up? Look, I need to know how to remain unknown and disguised, and since y'all are so good at it, could you send me some advice? Thanks.  
Bunny]  
  
Hey, Koneko-chan  
First of all, it shouldn't be too hard for YOU to remain disguised. You fooled us pretty well, you know. Second of all, if you REALLY want to be disguised, we're each giving you a word of advice  
From Hotaru - Try not to be there too much. Dust the youma and leave. Every minute you spend is a minute wasted where they could possibly trace who you are.  
From Setsuna - Stay in the shadows. It disguises your features, and gives you an air of mystery. I should know. *grins*  
From Haruka - Lose the speeches, girl! And be careful. You're speaking English in English territory. If you speak a bit of Japanese, or show a sign that you don't understand English, your cover is blown.  
From Michiru - Try to act differently than you normally do. Like add a whole bunch of "like" to your speaking, and maybe try to speak with a French accent. Even a really bad French accent can disguise a Japanese one.  
That's from all of us. Ja ne!  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Guardianofstrength@karate.com  
Subject: Re: Disguise  
  
[Hey Mako,  
I need help on my fighting. Could you send me some brochures so I can change my style, etc? Thanks.  
Bunny]  
  
So, Usagi,  
You want to change your style? Too bad. Your style's pretty cool . breaking the youma's eardrums, and startle it by killing it in a moment of lucidity. j/k. I sent you several packets on fighting style (your Sailor Moon Kick is cool, but it wastes energy, and doesn't have good accuracy) and disguising it. You know, throwing extra tidbits in that will hide part of your technique, and won't hinder it. Stuff like that. Oh, and it tells you how to ~properly~ sneak up on someone. Gotta go for now!  
Jupiter  
  
To: Moonbunny@sailormoon.com  
From: Rosedude@myonlylove.org  
Subject: I love you  
  
[Mamo-chan  
Thought you might like to know that 1.) I love you and 2.) Your former protectors are here fighting the bad guy . and they definitely need help. Luv ya as always, and was wondering if you could help me with some corny speeches. JOKE!  
Your true luv,  
Usako]  
  
My Usako  
Just wanted to let you know that I love you, and that if you need any help I'm always here for you. Can't wait to see you again. If you think you can't handle it with the Dark-Generals-turned-good, you can always call on me or the other Senshi.  
I love you.  
Your Mamo-chan  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mark shot a dirty look at his half-cousin, or whatever. This was ~so~ not his thing. First, she had he and his friends haul in those gigantic suitcases. And now, her friends from . Connecticut, Japan, Germany, and England!!! . were sending these huge packages to her.  
So of course she had pulled that puppy-dog-face on him, and pleaded that she was such a "weak, young girl", and she needed help from some "big, strong men." He had caved in of course, but not before shooting her a dirty look. He really ought to introduce her to the Sailor Senshi some time. So much for "weak, young girls."  
Of course, Jordan had just laughed at him. And he ~knew~ he was being played . but it wasn't his fault that his half-cousin had him wrapped around her finger.  
What did she have in her packages anyways? Mark wondered as he heaved the last package into his cousin's room. Once again, she was reading her emails. Most of them were in Japanese (which he was proud to say he still knew, even in this body), but some were in English. He leaned over to read one, and caught only one word . "Dark Generals."  
$***. What did she know? Thoughts were running wildly in his head, so he didn't notice Usagi's panicked look as she covered the computer screen and shut it down.  
Casually, he spoke. "Dark Generals? Who are they?" .  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi's heart raced as she searched for a suitable answer. She looked up with her bright eyes and spoke the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, you know how Japan has experiencing these attacks? Well, some of them were started by these Dark Generals who are *so* kawaii! Major hunk-o-sauruses!" She paused to add effect. "Especially that Malachite person!" Hey, flattery gets you everywhere.  
Mark nodded, his ego stroked, and his suspicion was gone for a moment.  
Too late, Usagi remembered that she had the Silver Crystal erase EVERYTHING, and she should not have remembered this. "I mean, their dolls are so cute!" she burst out. Yes, there were Dark General Dolls. She and Mamo-chan had found them. Sickening-looking, too. The two had left the store, trying not to burst out in laughter. I mean, they portrayed Zoisite as a girl!  
"Dolls?" Mark asked, interested.  
"Oh yes," Usagi spoke with an evil gleam in her eye. "I especially like Zoycite."  
"Zoisite?" Mark asked, aghast.  
"Yes," Usagi smiled brightly. "She's so kawaii, especially since she's the only girl. And she and Malachite are ~so~ deeply in love, and they're spending the rest of their lives with Jedite and Neflyte waiting on them."  
For some reason, Mark began choking, and had to leave the room. Usagi looked at him curiously. She had no reason why. As soon as sight and sound of him left the room, though, a wicked smile appeared on her face. She knew just what to get him and his friends for Christmas.  
But on to important business. Usagi began organizing the packets she had received. Mamo-chan had sent a way-cool mask and a bouquet of roses. Ami-chan had sent the gizmo she mentioned earlier. The Outers had sent a small journal with the title "Memoirs" on it. She frowned. She would have to ask Mark what that meant. Mako-chan had sent a couple of simple brochure/packets. They weren't very long because Makoto knew she had a short attention span. Rei-chan had sent a small instruction booklet on meditation. Mina-chan had been the one to send the incredibly large packages.  
She pulled out her disguise pen, a new pen, an extremely revealing outfit, and a disgruntled Luna. She did a double take. "Luna!" she screeched. "What are you doing here?"  
Luna sniffed. "If I had known that Minako planned to stuff me in a small box, I wouldn't have suggested that I come here to help you."  
"Hush it," Usagi scolded. "Mark might hear you. How am I going to explain you to Uncle Rick and Aunt Meg?"  
Luna smiled. "I'm an old pet your friend sent you."  
"But Mark will recognize your crescent moon," Usagi pointed out.  
"That is a problem, isn't it?" Luna frowned.  
"Well," Usagi suggested. "We can cover it up."  
Luna shook her head. "If you do, I won't be able to talk."  
"Well, then," Usagi frowned. "Can you use the disguise pen?"  
Luna gave her a dirty look.  
Usagi shrugged. "Just a suggestion. You have any better ones?"  
Luna frowned in thought. "Well ." she frowned. "You could use your Silver Crystal to make my crescent moon invisible to anyone except for those who know its there or who look for it. But the spell is a musty spellbook on the moon, and you'd have to find a place to use the Crystal where Malachite couldn't sense you."  
"Until then," Usagi said brightly, "I'll just hide you."  
"How are we going to get to the moon?" Luna asked.  
"Teleportation," Usagi shrugged. "But I'm going out to dinner with Mark and his friends tonight. I'll be sure to bring something back for you. Remember to stay hidden. Aunt Meg would freak if she found you."  
Luna nodded. "I know, Usagi. Have fun."  
"Sure," Usagi smiled. "See ya!" she called over her shoulder as she rushed downstairs.  
"Whom were you talking to?" Mark asked curiously as he walked out the door with Usagi.  
"Oh, no one," Usagi shrugged. "Come on. So, where are we going?"  
"Blaise's Place," Mark said. "It's a joint all the high school kids like to go to. I can introduce you to some of my friends' kid sisters and brothers so you can know them before you actually start school." He smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry about school. If you need anything, Jordan, Zach, Nick, and me will be going to the nearby university. Our legacies live on, however. Just mention our name."  
"Sure," Usagi smiled.  
"Here we are," Mark announced.  
"Hey, Malachi," a voice called out behind them. Usagi froze. Mark frowned. She shouldn't know the name other than those dolls she had mentioned earlier. So why did she seem to know that he was Malachi? There was virtually no connection between their names.  
"Hey, Jihad," Mark nodded. "I'd like to introduce you to my half- cousin, Serena. She just came from Japan. Oh," he added to Usagi, "Malachi's Jihad's nickname for me, if you didn't guess already."  
"Nice to meet you," Usagi said, taking it slowly.  
"What's up?" Jihad smiled. He had dark black hair, brown eyes, and brownish skin, and he was obviously from somewhere around India.  
"Has anyone else gotten here yet?" Mark questioned.  
"Jedi got here a couple of minutes ago. He's off talking to some redhead with big-" Jihad suddenly stopped talking and glanced at Usagi. "With pretty eyes," he finally said. "Nephi called on his cell and said that he had to do some last-minute work at the Star Tower, and said that he'd be here soon. Nephi's parents are astronomers," Jihad added for Usagi's benefit. "Nephi is Nick and Jedi is Jordan, in case you didn't know."  
"Has Z gotten here yet?" Mark asked.  
"Nope," Jihad shook his head. "Amelia came, but she had to split, as did Lila. Marina and Rachel haven't shown up yet."  
At Usagi's blank look, Mark explained. "Marina's my ex-girlfriend, Lila is Nick's girlfriend, Amelia is Zach's study partner that he asks to stuff because he doesn't have time to ask anyone else, and Rachel is Jordan's way-pushy girlfriend."  
At this moment, a girl walked in. She had black hair and brown eyes. "Have any of you seen Jay-man?" she asked.  
"Oh, hi Rachel," Jihad smiled. "Lookin' good. Jedi's flirtin' again."  
"Before you go," Mark interjected. "I'd like to introduce you to my half-cousin Serena."  
Rachel paused to glance at Usagi. "Kind of scrawny, isn't she?" she asked.  
Usagi had no idea what scrawny meant, but she guessed it was supposed to be an insult. She just ignored Rachel.  
"And what's with the weird hair?" Rachel continued. "Where's she from, the moon?"  
Usagi suppressed a snigger at this. If only she knew.  
"Don't go dissing my cousin," Mark said in a warning tone. "I only put up with you because of Jordan."  
"Did anyone mention my name?" Jordan asked, popping up. "Hey, Serena. How you doing? Did you like the arch?"  
Usagi nodded. "It was cool, but the elevator rides were cramped."  
"I know," Jordan sympathized.  
"Jordan," Rachel glared. "You haven't even said hi to me."  
"Sorry, baby," Jordan murmured, and pecked her forehead. "Just making Serena here feel at home."  
Rachel sniffed. "Well, the brat's okay if you ask me. You still promised me a dance."  
Jordan sighed. "Chill, Rachel. I was just saying hi."  
"Well, I'll be waiting by booth 13 if you need me," Rachel glared. "There's that really cute transfer student from Spain if you don't want me." She stomped off.  
"Sheesh," Jordan shook his head. "I don't know what I see in her."  
"Apart from the similarity in looks to an old girl, I don't either," Mark snorted.  
"Old girl?" Usagi asked.  
"Oh yeah," Mark smiled. "It was a long time ago. A girl called Rei."  
Usagi smiled weakly, but she turned away. How could she forget? The Generals had been in love with her Inners before they betrayed them. Before the Generals turned to the Dark Side. Way back in the Silver Millennium. These Generals obviously had good memories.  
"What do you mean you dump me!" a shriek was heard. "You can't dump me! I dump you!"  
A furious Rachel rushed out of the room. As she bumped into Usagi though, she glared at her with hate-filled eyes. "You'll pay for this, girl, you don't know what I can do," she muttered, before continuing running.  
"Well, that went well," Jordan shrugged as he appeared.  
"Jedi, man, that was classic," Jihad winked.  
"What'd I miss?" Nick asked, appearing.  
"Well, Nephi," Jihad recounted. "You missed Lila. She had to go to the hospital to get her shot, but she'll be back later. And you missed Jedi here dumping Rachel."  
"Good riddance," Nick snorted.  
Usagi, having only heard the conversation, heard the word "shot." "Shot?" she asked, and shivered. "I hate shots," she said emphatically, enunciating the words.  
Nick smiled sadly. "Lila has leukemia. She'll probably die in a couple of months, but until then she gets shots daily so she feels better."  
Usagi bowed her head. "I'm sorry."  
"So am I," Nick heaved a sigh.  
At this moment, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl came in.  
"And that's Marina," Jihad pointed out. "She may be Malachi's ex, but she's going to be my girlfriend. Just wait."  
He sauntered up to the girl. There was a couple of seconds of inaudible conversation, and finally Marina's head bobbed up and down. Jihad came back leading Marina with her.  
"Hi, Mark," Marina said brightly.  
"Hi, Marina," Mark acknowledged. "This is my half-cousin Serena."  
"Hello," Usagi said shyly.  
Marina smiled. "Hi," she said. "Guess what just happened. Jihad just asked me out. Isn't that so cool!"  
Nick frowned. "Didn't Mark just break up with you yesterday," he ventured.  
Marina shook her blonde hair. Now that she was close up, Usagi could see faint blue-green streaks in it. "Mark was, like, so five minutes ago," she rolled her eyes. "Jihad is current. Get with it."  
Jihad winked at the guys, and led Marina over to the dance floor.  
Mark shook his head. "Yesterday, she was completely in tears. She even showed up on my doorstep while I was downtown with Sere, and left a note. Today, she's over it."  
Jordan shrugged. "She was a ditz. You only dated her because she looked a lot like Minako."  
Usagi snorted. Marina and Minako? They were very different. As if.  
Zach appeared at the door at this moment. "Did I miss anything?" he asked. "I had to call an emergency meeting with Amelia because I reread our assignment, and we've been doing our project wrong."  
"How?" Nick asked skeptically.  
"It's a technicality," Zach shrugged. "It only took a couple of clicks with a computer mouse to fix it, though we did reread the entire assignment sheet to make sure we didn't leave anything out."  
"Whatever," Jordan rolled his eyes. "Where's Amelia?"  
"Oh, she's with her boyfriend," Zach shrugged. "Marvin."  
"I though Marvin was going out with Millie," Mark said, confused.  
"Millie moved to New York," Zach explained.  
"Okay," Mark nodded.  
Meanwhile, Usagi (being bored) had decided to explore Blaise's Place on her own. With all the loud music, inane chatter, and almost impossible to understand English, she was soon completely muddled and lost. She could not find the guys. Finally, she found Jihad making out with Marina. She winced.  
"Jihad," she ventured.  
Jihad looked up with Marina pouted.  
She searched for the right words. "Where is Mark?"  
Jihad smiled. "Mark said that he and the guys needed to go do something. He said for you to wait here."  
Usagi nodded, only slightly confused. She headed for the exit, to clear her head of the very loud music being played. As soon as she drew a sigh of relief outside, though, in the deep recesses of her mind, she heard several voices. "Guardian of the Earth! Revert!"  
She drew a deep breath. Even if she couldn't help them right now, she could at least analyze the situation by going to see them. She followed the echoes in her head, and ended up only a couple of blocks away from Blaise's Place. She hid behind a building as she watched Malachite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite battle it out with a powerful youma. She bit her lip as she watched.  
"Psssst. Usagi. Over here," a voice hissed.  
Usagi turned to see Luna.  
"This might help," Luna had dragged a basket with what she needed in it.  
Usagi nodded and grabbed hold of the pen Luna indicated (she wasn't sure what it was for, but she was confident Luna would tell her what to do).  
"Whisper Guardian of the Moon, Revert," Luna ordered.  
"Guardian of the Moon, Revert," Usagi closed her eyes. Immediately a dim dusting of stars surrounded her. When the stars finally winked out, she was fully clothed. She wore a silver blouse-and-pants outfit, with silver boots and silver gloves. She had a rapier in her right hand (though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out who had the bright idea to stick her with a sharp, point stick she had no idea how to use), and she had a cute-looking silver beret on, covering her masses of hair. She slipped on the mask Mamoru had given her. She clipped the voice-disguiser on, and took a deep breath. This was it.  
She quickly assessed the situation. Malachite and Zoisite were down (but not out). Nephrite's star attacks weren't harming the youma much and Jadeite's attacks did not seem to work unless the youma was distracted. Nephrite was already too weak to do much.  
"Star Saber Revolution," Usagi whispered underneath her breath. She knew that was her attack without even asking Luna. She also knew (out of that part of her mind that supplied her with useless information about the Moon Kingdom) that the only reason she was allowed to say Star instead of Moon was because her mother had obtained the Queen of the Stars' permission a long time ago. She closed her eyes and prayed that they were all too busy to notice her aura right now. She hadn't even begun Rei's packets yet.  
Suddenly, a stroke of genius encompassed her. She projected a hologram of herself on the other side of the small and cramped area in which they were fighting, and made it walk forward. They wouldn't sense an aura at all from the hologram.  
She hesitated. She knew the Outers had said no speeches, but she needed to distract the youma. She bit her lip. Might as well attack it straight away. Maybe, seeing as it was focused on Jadeite, it was technically distracted and her attack would work.  
"Star Saber Revolution!" she cried. The hologram lifted up an impressive looking sabre and slashed at the youma, as if that was the attack. In actuality, an invisible ball of power was being slammed into the youma, which disintegrated into dust. No sooner did the hologram flicker out of existence did Aurora appear.  
She frowned. She had especially designed the youma to play upon the Generals' strengths and weaknesses, and it should have destroyed them all. She gently touched the dust before it was blown away by the wind. She touched it to her nose, sniffing it. "Finely done," she inwardly complimented whoever had destroyed it . they had done an extremely thorough job.  
She looked around at the Generals. None of them were strong enough to do this. At this moment, Nephrite and Jadeite were supporting Malachite and Zoisite, both of whom had been helpless during the battle due to the sticky thread, which had held them, but had now disappeared.  
She scanned around her, searching for auras. She found two. One of a human, and one of a cat, but the aura was too strong for a normal cat's. Her thin lips contorted into a grotesque simile of a smile. "Who are you!" she called. "I know where you are. And trust me . I will make you pay for that! The Creator will see to that!" So saying, Aurora disappeared in a flash of light as blue as her eyes.  
  
To be continued . 


	4. On the Moon

It wasn't hard for Usagi to dehenshin and slip back into Blaise's Place before her cousin and his friends did. In fact, it was a piece of cake. As she had only used one attack, the only attack she knew, and had shot it through a hologram at that, she doubted they would be suspicious of her. However, she was wary, and rightly so.  
The music soared around her, the pulsing throbbing beat, and clouded her head again. She shook it. Ugh, this was not her type of music. To her shock, dismay, and disgust, some guy she had never met before with brown hair and gray eyes grabbed her and began dancing with her. His hand stayed on her wrist, and would not let her go as she struggled to free herself. "Let me go!" she shrieked, knowing that her voice would not be heard over the music.  
"Is there a problem here?" a low voice asked. Usagi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Mark.  
"It doesn't like she wants to dance with you," Jordan said, raising an eyebrow.  
"So unless you want to leave here," Nick said pointedly.  
"You had better keep your hands off of her," Zack finished.  
"And I think that is your cue to leave," Jihad said, with an armful of Marina by his side.  
The boy dropped Usagi's wrist like a hot potato and faced the five menacing guys and one dancing girl (Marina). Slap! The boy whirled back around to see a furious Usagi.  
She glared at him hard. Without saying a word, she punched him in the eye. "The next one is really going to hurt," she said, looking pointedly at his place-that-hurt-the-most. "Because if you do not leave in ten seconds, my knee will connect with your you-know-where, and trust, me, it will not be fun."  
The boy panicked and ran for his life.  
"You go, girl," Jihad smiled. "That, in case you didn't know, was Joshua. He would be a senior this year. He's on the varsity football team, and has a rather hazy reputation. Of course, he's no idiot (even if I think he might be drunk), and when faced with college guys and one mad girl, I'm not surprised he left. That was a good punch you threw."  
"Perfect," Zach agreed. "I loved the bruise it left."  
"I admired the slap," Nick remarked. "So . loud, and it left a red palm print. I know. I looked."  
"Oh, I can just see the look on his face . shock . and fear!" Jordan began doubling up with laughter.  
"Are you all right?" Mark asked carefully.  
Usagi nodded. "Can we leave?" she asked. "I'm not sure this is my kind of place."  
"Sure," Mark said. "That was a perfect threat, though ." He cracked a smile.  
Usagi shrugged. "Minak- Mina taught me a couple of phrases to defend myself with."  
"Minako?" Mark asked, pale.  
"Iie," Usagi shook her head. "No. Mina, my friend from England. Mina . Lovejoy." She smiled at the name she had created.  
"Like Elijah Lovejoy?" Zach asked.  
"Elijah Lovejoy?" Usagi asked, confused.  
"Never mind," Zach shook his head.  
"Come on," Mark said. "Mom and Dad won't be home yet, but Buffy should be on."  
"You watch Buffy?" Nick said, aghast.  
"You watch Charmed," Jordan snorted.  
"Nani?" Usagi asked, completely confused.  
"Never mind," Zach said. "They're just weird. That's all."  
"Hey! I resemble that!"  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi held Luna in her arms, and the ginzuishou in her hand. Moonlight lit her path in a luminescent way. "So this will work?" she asked for what must have been the thousandth time.  
Luna explained patiently. "Just ask the ginzuishou to take you the moon. It will do so. It's what you did back in the Silver Millennium, though then, you were trying to steal to Earth. It takes longer that way, but until we find the Spell Book, we cannot change your aura or do anything else. We should now be beyond range for them to sense, because they have gone on some holiday that you decided not to go on, so now is the time to go."  
Usagi rolled her eyes. "I asked if it would work, not how."  
"Yes, it will work," Luna snapped irritably. "Unless you do it wrong!"  
"What if you told me wrong?" Usagi countered.  
Luna sighed. "Just . try it, and then we'll see, all right?"  
Usagi closed her eyes tightly, and held the ginzuishou stiffly in front of her. She did not like using it, as it brought back memories she often did not wish to relive. "Umm. Ginzuishou, please take me to the moon," she finally said, out of lack of anything else to do. Drat that cat! How was she supposed to know how to do this? "Just ask the ginzuishou to take you to the moon." What kind of instructions were those?  
The ginzuishou glimmered a little, and began shimmering rapidly, blinking on and off like a broken light. Finally, a flash of light blinded Usagi, who almost dropped the ginzuishou in her surprise, and did drop Luna. When her vision cleared, she found herself on the moon, with a temporary bubble of atmosphere around her to keep her breathing. She gulped as she realized that she had left Luna back on Earth. How was she going to get back?  
Luna meanwhile was grumbling furiously about stupid teenagers who don't follow directions, and drop you on hard, rocky areas on the ground when they're not supposed to.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Nick looked up suddenly. He watched the moon curiously. For a moment it had felt like some sort of power surge had come from there but . nah, it couldn't be. He went back to discussing Lila's current condition with his friends.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mamoru stopped taking notes and looked up. He had felt a tingling at the back of his head, which meant Usagi had transformed. Luna had assured him, however, that the new transformation did not involve direct use of the ginzuishou, so he would not black out in the middle of class or get a huge headache in the middle of talking with friends. She had also promised to notify him each time Usagi transformed via communicator, which they confirmed was in working order when Luna called during Usagi's earlier transformation. Mamoru was very proud of Usa-ko. She had destroyed the youma with only one simple blast.  
Mamoru paused as his watch began vibrating. It was a dark black one, and covered so no one could see that it was in fact a Luna-only communicator (he had refused to take one of those pink calculator-beeper communicators the other senshi received, and his only connected to Luna. Mamoru knew that in a few moments, class would be over, and tried not to worry as he finished typing up his notes, and moved with the rest of the class outside, where he was immediately accosted by a swarm of swooning girls. He avoided them easily by slipping into the restroom and spoke to Luna. Minutes later, he emerged from the restroom after first sticking his head and out and making sure the coast was clear. It was nighttime; the class had gone on for a long time. He spent a few moments gazing at the moon. Good luck, Usako.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi shivered as a breeze of cold, dusty air shipped around her. Where was this magic book? Getting an idea, she cupped the ginzuishou in front of her. Ginzuishou, please show me where the magic books are. She opened her eyes hopefully and saw the ginzuishou glow. She waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. Apparently, all the ginzuishou did was glow.  
Slumping, Usagi began trudge backwards from where she came in hopes that she might actually find it. Her eyes fell on the ginzuishou, and it was not glowing. She sighed and turned back towards the direction she had just turned from in time to glimpse Earth, magnificent in the air. She sighed and looked dejectedly at the ginzuishou . and it was glowing.  
"Nani?" she asked, frustrated. "Why do you sometimes glow and sometimes not glow!" Suddenly, an idea dawned her. She put the ginzuishou in front of her and moved it back and forth until she saw where it glowed the brightest. She bravely went ahead in that direction, waving it back and forth every now and then to see if she was going in the right direction or if she had veered off the path. Happily she went onward, content with the fact that she almost had it.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Luna gazed up at the moon. "I hope you find it quickly, Usagi."  
  
++++++++++  
  
The Ginzuishou finally led her to a bare, nondescript plateau and stopped glowing, refusing to glow no matter how much Usagi shook it. Finally, she gazed around her? Was the magic book around her? Impossible. How could it be? Furious at the ginzuishou, she took her anger out on the ground less she be tempted to smash the ginzuishou, which would destroy her transportation home. One stomp, and the moon began rumbling.  
Usagi froze. Oops. If she accidentally broke apart the moon, Luna would most definitely not be amused. She could just imagine the scene. The moon had broken up into tiny little pieces, and a mini Luna was yelling at a mini Usagi on one of them. "Do you realize what you have done to Earth's ecosystems? So many things depend on the moon, including the rising and falling of the tides of the ocean. The moon pulls it. You have just destroyed Earth!" A mini Usagi stamped a foot. "I didn't mean to," she wails, just as her stamps breaks apart the mini moon piece they are standing on, shattering it to dust. A mini Usagi and a mini Luna float through space, yelling at each other, with the mini Usagi kicking anything near it and turning it into dust.  
Usagi was brought back to reality as she found herself shaking. Then, to her astonishment, part of the moon began cracking, and a small platform rose out of the ground.  
  
To be continued . 


	5. Back to Earth

Aware that her position was vulnerable to attack, Usagi quickly projected a small shield around her, just in case. By the time the platform had officially settled down, Usagi warily opened her eyes. There was nothing on the platform but a podium-like stand. Tentatively, she stepped onto the platform, ready to bolt at any sign of the platform moving. Nothing happened.  
Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, she walked over to the stand. Her eyes fell on the book.  
"Olde Magicking of the Moone" it proclaimed in embellished gold script. Brushing away some of the dust, she opened it. Her hand rested on the table of contents as she skimmed through it. "Eleth niirk", "miskt pointe" and "quell byen" were only some of the many incomprehensible titles. And then there were the many ancient runes that she could barely see, much less understand. But there was no doubt about it. This was the ancient spellbook of the moon. She could see the carefully embossed crescent moon on the title page, and the old, yellowed, silvering pages that seemed to shimmer.  
Breathing deeply, Usagi grasped the book and prepared to leave. Just as soon as she took the spellbook off of the stand, however, the platform began rumbling. Intuitively, she leaped off the platform with massive book in hand, tucking and rolling just as the earth swallowed the platform.  
"That was close," she muttered to herself. She took a deep breath. Now, how to get home. Doubtfully, she opened the spellbook. If only it had instructions about how to teleport home without a power surge alarming every magic-sensitive person for a light-year around. Luna had explained that going to the moon, which was a Magick Pointe, was one thing. Going back to Earth without alerting everyone would require the spellbook. But Luna wasn't here to help interpret it.  
Sighing, she tapped her chin with the ginzuishou, out of habit. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the words "Auras Without Alerting." She turned to see the words, but was disappointed to see them gone. She began tapping her chin again. Again, she saw the words of the corner of her eye. This time, she did not turn, but merely watched them out of the corner of her eye.  
Of course! Every word that was shone upon by the light of her ginzuishou was read-able. She exulted. She could finally get off the cold, damp moon, and back home. She immediately felt remorse at referring to her childhood home was "cold and damp", but, she reasoned, it was. She had not been born here in this life.  
Slowly, she tediously moved the ginzuishou over each word. It was harder to read word by word rather than continuously, but she soon got the hang of it. Before long, she had finished the chapter. All right. Shrinking the book down to a transportable size was no problem, and she tucked it into her jeans pocket. Taking a deep breath, se began to meditate, or attempt to meditate. Slowly, she sank into her inner wellspring of being, until she felt a silver flickering around her. Slowly, she soothed it down until it was barely noticeable. Gripping the ginzuishou tightly in hand, she took a deep breath and teleported back to Earth.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mamoru awoke, aware of a tension in the air. But it was a passing fancy, and soon, the tingling at his neck was gone. Brushing it off as his imagination, he went back to sleep.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mark stopped brushing his teeth for a moment, to look out the window at the moon. For a moment, he could have sworn . Nah, it couldn't be. Shaking his head at his own foolishness, he rinsed his mouth.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Luna looked up at the moon in worry, when suddenly; she felt something fall on top of her. "Oomph," she grunted.  
"Luna," Usagi shrieked. "It worked! I was so relieved! I meanthemoonstartedshakingandIthoughtIbrokeitand-"  
"Whoa," Luna said. "Stop for breath. "The moon started shaking? And you broke it?"  
"No," Usagi said as she continued to tell everything to Luna at hyperspeed.  
"All right," Luna said. "The moon shook, and the platform with the book on it appeared."  
"Right," Usagi nodded.  
"Then you found the book, and read it and teleported here," Luna confirmed.  
"Right," Usagi said.  
"Good," Luna said. "Only one problem. Even if the ginzuishou shone on it, the spellbook was written in Lunarian. How did you read it?"  
Usagi was confused. "It looked like Japanese to me."  
"I doubt even your Japanese reading skills," Luna said dryly, "unless it involves manga."  
Usagi rolled her eyes and pulled out the spellbook, unshrinking it. "See," she stated as she pulled out the ginzuishou. "It's in Japanese."  
Luna coughed politely. "That's Lunarian," she pointed out gently.  
"Then how come I can read it?" Usagi asked, confused.  
Luna frowned. "I suspect that it's a carry-over from your past incarnation as Princess Serenity. However, in this form, your past self could not interpret the runes. When you shone the ginzuishou over it, it was an object connecting your past self and your present self, and it allowed your past self to interpret the runes for you."  
"Oh," Usagi shrugged, nonplussed by the information and not really paying attention. "When will Mark and Aunt Meg and Uncle Rick be home?"  
"Your uncle will be home from work in an hour, and your aunt will be back from the talk with the principal not long after. Mark's still at wherever he is with his friends," Luna said promptly.  
"Oh," Usagi said, suddenly remembering. Placing a finger on Luna's forehead, she mumbled something under her breath. Slowly, the crescent moon faded away. "There. Now they won't notice it."  
"Good."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi quickly slid into routine. She had Luna by her side, Mark sticking up for her, and she constantly chatted with her friends online talking about everything, from boys to evil minions to bad guys to hot hunks. Yes, the enemy did attack once or twice, and Usagi was forced to transform into her Moon Guardian form. That was what she called it. Luna said that its official name was something long and awkward in Lunarian that shortened into Leithe. Of course, Leithe in itself was hard to pronounce since it was actually spelled something like Llwilleithye, and pronounced like a complex form of Leithe. But that's another story.  
She spent days with Mark and his friends, and nights fighting Aurora or Borealis, depending on which showed up. The routine ended abruptly when she got her schedule for school. The University started about a week later than the high school she went to, but already Nick and Jordan were planning to leave. Zach attended a university nearby, and would be available to fight monsters.  
Her nightly excursions and lessons with Luna practicing her attacks and her magic would probably end if she didn't want to fall asleep in class. She chatted with her friends more, unburdening her worries, voicing concerns. And her friends comforted her and encouraged her. And Mamo-chan was there for her, sending her thoughtful and insightful emails, always cheering her up.  
And then school started. Her troubles were just beginning.  
  
To be continued . 


	6. Before Lunch

The first day of school, she was late. Luna had not been allowed to sleep in her room for sanitation reasons (claimed Aunt Meg and Uncle Rick), so she had been unable to wake Usagi up. The alarm clock rang, but Usagi just turned it off and rolled over in bed. 15 minutes later, Mark banged on the door. "If you don't get up, you'll miss the bus," he yelled.  
Usagi sat bolt upright and let out a screech. She let out a string of expletives in Japanese. "I'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelate." She continued muttering Japanese as she pulled on a blue tanktop and gray jeans. She hurried brushed her hair, before putting it up into her meatballs, and stormed out of the room. "When does the bus come again?" she asked in Japanese, before realizing her error. "When does the bus come?" she repeated slowly in English.  
Mark glanced at his watch. "In 5 minutes."  
"Why aren't you at school?" she frowned.  
"School doesn't start for me yet," he said lazily. He refrained from mentioning that he dormed at Washington University, so his bedroom and his classes weren't that far from each other.  
Usagi scowled. She rushed downstairs, grabbed her lunch, and crammed an apple in her mouth, before running outside, only to miss the bus. She ran after it, hair streaming behind her, until it arrived at the next stop, and scrambled onto the bus. She ignored snickers and slumped over to the last part of the bus, and found a seat.  
It wasn't long before they got to school. Usagi reached to sling her backpack over her shoulder before remembering with a sudden dread that she had left it at home. She almost cried.  
Sighing, she got to the school doors, and looked up to see Mark smiling at her, holding out her backpack. "I think you forgot something."  
"Thanks!" Usagi exclaimed. She reached out for her backpack with glee, not noticing the many jealous female glares. "Well, I'm to school. Ja!" She skipped into the school.  
Meanwhile, Mark was staring blankly at her. "I'm to school? I think she meant 'I'm off to school.' Oh well. It doesn't matter. Not too much, at least." Shaking his head, he turned to head home.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi bit her lip as she searched for the office. Not finding it, she asked the first person she encountered. "Excuse me," she said slowly. "Where is office?"  
While Mark and his friends had gotten used to her somewhat broken English, they had helped correct it. They had never burst out laughing like this girl. Her brown and purple-streaked hair shook as her black eyes gazed scornfully at Usagi. "Where is office? Where'd you learn your English? The moon?"  
What was their obsession with the moon? Usagi wondered privately. Outwardly, she just rolled her eyes, and turned to someone else. "Excuse me," she said. "Where is ......... the office?" She remembered to add "the" at the last moment.  
The whole room seemed to hush as she addressed this blond. He stared at her curiously. "Are you Mark's cousin?" he asked, finally.  
"Hai," Usag said. "Yes," she nodded.  
He smiled. "Mark told us to watch out for you. Come on. The office is this way."  
Hesitantly, Usagi followed him through the crowd. They finally came in front of a door with Office emblazed across it in big red letters. She followed him in.  
"This is the new student from Japan," he announced. "Adopted by the Stone family."  
Usagi looked at the secretary. "Umm. I'm supposed to come here for my schedule?" Her English was heavily accented, and barely comprehensible. Her English was worse when she was nervous.  
The secretary nodded. "You have a choice. You can take ESL classes to improve your English, but that would probably cause you to fall behind in some of your classes. Or you can go on with the English you have right now, and improve it by yourself. Which do you prefer?"  
"I would like to improve my English by myself please," Usagi said. She was barely making C's as it was. She couldn't afford to have her grades drop any more.  
"Alright. Your locker number is #3895. Your student i.d. number is #263*891. And this is your schedule. If you have schedule conflicts, please contact us, and we will adjust your schedule."  
Luckily, she had no schedule conflicts. She was one of the few who didn't. Many people were chagrined to find that their schedule expected them to be in two places at the same time, or that they had the same class twice. And that was just for ~this~ semester. She had no schedule conflicts, but she had conflicts in almost everything else. Her locker partner was the very girl who had snubbed her and mocked her English. Opal seemed to enjoying making snide comments, and sneering at her. Usagi found that half her teachers couldn't pronounce her name, and made it sound like a tongue-twister. She insisted on being called Serena, if only to protect her name from further mutilation, if nothing else.  
Just great.  
And then came lunchtime.  
  
To be continued. 


	7. Candace Rogers

Lunch started out simply enough. She made her way to the cafeteria, managed to get two slices of pizza, some mashed potatoes, and some chocolate milk, and paid for it. She sat down with a group of Mark's friends, who all spoke rapid English. She wasn't paying very much attention, concentrating more on her food. They didn't make pizza like this in Japan. When she was done, she got up to dump her food in the trash can. Not looking where she was going, she accidentally bumped into a girl, overturning her tray on him.  
The girl shrieked. Usagi winced. "Gomen nasai," she apologized rapidly. "I-muh sorry-uh. I-muh sorry-uh."  
But the girl did not stop. Her shriek turned into a tirade. "Who do you think you are? Do you know who ~I~ am? Let me tell you, I'm Candace Rogers, the richest girl at this filthy school."  
Usagi retaliated immediately. "So?" she asked in English, before effectively insulting Candace in Japanese. Admittedly, some of the insults were a bit childish, like "baka atama" and "meanie" and such. But it sounded like she was cursing Candace fluently, and that was what counted.  
Candace flushed, but didn't say anything. The look on the face of the tall, bulky, jock that came up behind her spoke a thousand words. "Is somebody bothering you, Candy?" his voice rumbled.  
Candace immediately put on a simpering smile. "Oh, Petey, this girl is making fun of me," she wailed. "She's being mean!"  
Usagi shot her a disgusted look. Her English wasn't exactly good yet, but she could understand it well enough.  
"Are you insulting my girlfriend?" Peter asked menacingly, as "Candy" smirked from behind his back.  
"Now, now," a voice said. Usagi turned to see a dark blonde with a blue bow in her hair and green eyes shake her head. She was one who had helped her get to her geometry class. "Don't you know who this wonderful girl is? She's Usagi Tsukino, the new student from Japan. The one whose cousin is Mark Stone. Do you remember Mark? Wasn't he the guy who beat you up when you insulted his family?"  
Peter blanched, but kept his threatening facade. "Yeah? What do I care? And what's Mark to you, Jeanine? I thought you didn't hold with Mark's groupies? And his overly inflated ego? Strutting around like he owns the place. Well, he's long gone now, and no puny cousin of his is going to stop me from claiming my rightful place as king of this school."  
Usagi walked up to him, and cocked her head, observing him. He stopped his ranting, unnerved. He didn't see the fist make it to his eye, leaving a big, black bruise. "I'm not puny," she said coldly, almost all traces of her accent gone. Anger had always helped her learn better. "And don't insult Mark. He's ten of you." Of course, the last was spoken in Japanese, but she had made her point.  
Candy, however, was not happy yet. Her eyes flashed. "I-muh no-tuh pun-yuh," she mimicked, exaggerating Usagi's accent.  
Usagi glared. "So sorry to tell you, Candy," she said fake-sadly, "but I'm afraid you are." She fake-sighed. "I'm sure you'll grow soon." Even her accent did not mar the mocking sarcasm in her voice.  
Candy flushed, her own joke turned back on her. "I'll get you for this, Tsukino," she hissed ... while badly mispronouncing the "Tsukino."  
"Whatever," Jeanine rolled her eyes. "Come on, Serena."  
Usagi nodded, and followed Jeanine. As soon as they were out of earshot, Usagi turned to watch Jeanine. "Why did you help me?" she asked curiously.  
Jeanine sighed. "Look, we're all friends with Mark. Mark's cousin is like our cousin. Which means we're obligated to protect you. Plus, Mark called people up and called in a lot of favors to make sure your school year goes well. Besides," she added. "He's cute. Think you can put in a good word for me?" She winked, showing that she was joking.  
"Favors?" Usagi asked, surprised.  
"Yep," Jeanine said. "Some of the people in this school can be vicious. Especially people like Candace and Peter. They number in the minority, though."  
"I thought it was Candy," Usagi said, confused. "Isn't that when the Petey guy called her?"  
Jeanine smiled. "She hates the name 'Candy', but puts up with it because Peter's the captain of the football team. And he only allows his girlfriends to call him 'Petey.'"  
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Silly. Why would he let people call him Petey? That reminds me of a movie I saw three days ago. About . dinosaurs?"  
Jeanine nodded. "I know which one you mean." She glanced at her watch. "We'd better start getting to our next class, or we'll never get there in time. What's your next class?"  
Usagi paused. "Gym."  
"That's what I have, too. Come one. It's this way."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi Tsukino was a very level-headed girl. When pressured, she was a force to be reckoned with. After all, as the saying goes, "When ordinary people are put in extraordinary circumstances, they do extraordinary things." After facing down youma, Beryl, Alan, Ann, Fiore, Snow Queen Kaguya, Galaxia, the Death Busters, Mistress Nine, Pharoah 90, Queen Nehelenia, Wiseman/Death Phantom, and even Uranus and Neptune at one point, Usagi was not about to be intimidated by some snobby prep who thought she owned the school.  
What Usagi did not know was that while Candace did not own the school, her father Mr. Dennis Rogers did. He was on the school board, owned a large part of the school, and made generous donations each year. And the school, unfortunately, had to give way to him in his decisions several times, no matter how much they did not wish to. If Usagi had known this, she might have been suitably terrified. But probably not. After all, she would have reasoned, what would Mr. Rogers have against her?  
Usagi's first week of school was relatively harmless. Nothing interesting. Nothing too big. And there were no more confrontations with "Candy." That wasn't because Candy had given up on her, but because Candy was putting her plan into action. After all, even though it was extraordinarily easy to get your own way in the movies, it was less easy in real life. You didn't just strut up to your father and demand that a certain student be removed. Especially not if your father was a lawyer- wannabe (who never exactly made it through law school) who liked evidence. Candy was not at the top of the social ladder (if captain of the Varsity Cheerleaders-who won every game-counted as top of the social ladder) for nothing. She was cunning, if not exactly smart.  
What Candy wanted wasn't just to kick Usagi out of school. No, she wanted blackmail.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Usagi was exhausted. Luna had decided that as she had a three-day weekend today, she would be working out the entire day. She understood that she needed to work on her physical attacks, but between a battle against a monster and a training session with youma, she would choose the battle with the monster any day. As she headed back inside, she could have sworn she saw someone hiding in the bushes . but no. It must have been her imagination? Why would anyone spy on her?  
  
++++++++++  
  
A dark figure enshrouded in a light so brilliant it hurt one's eyes was sitting on an onyx throne inlaid with silver. The paradox of its appearance was reflected throughout the entire room, dark and light, black and white, good and evil, all sides represented. Kneeling before him was Lady Aurora Borealis.  
"Creator," she breathed with awe, not lifting her eyes from the black and white tiled floor.  
"You may rest your eyes upon me." The voice was baritone, tenor, and soprano, male and female, old and young. It was loud and soft at the same time, belligerent and peaceful, as paradoxical as its owner.  
Lady Aurora Borealis raised her eyes, her hands trembling as she did so. She had only rested her eyes upon the Creator several times before, and each time was a privilege. The light pierced her eyes and blinded her, even as the darkness soothed the pain. She felt of a cry of both ecstasy and religious epiphany and pain and utter misery overwhelm her. She controlled the urge to cry out within seconds.  
"My lord."  
"How goes your quest?"  
"Badly, Milord Creator. The Guardians have gained a new ally, one I cannot fathom."  
"Are you failing me?" The voice was now supreme in its danger, no longer any other quality.  
"No, my lord, of course not. I have almost pinned down her aura, but it keeps on eluding me at the last second. Mayhaps I may have some aid in this task of mine?"  
"Ask, and ye shall receive," the voice said. "Petra."  
A slight figure enshrouded entire in a blue silk that veiled her face as well as formed a toga-like outfit around her approached. "Yes?" Her voice was distinctly less reverent.  
"Are you insolent?" The paradoxical voice was now both dangerous in warning and gentle in guidance.  
Petra twitched as if in pain. "No, Milord Creator," she finally bit out.  
"Good." The voice was now satisfied and merciful. "Help Aurora in her quest."  
"Dark Lady Aurora Borealis?" Petra asked with a sneer evident in her voice.  
"Do as I say." The voice was level, but Petra shrunk away immediately.  
"Yes, Milord."  
  
To be continued . 


	8. Exhausted

Author's note: I switch interchangeably between "Usagi" and "Serena" in the same scene, depending on whether Mark or Usagi or Mamoru has recently spoken, and whose frame of mind I'm currently trying to impose upon the next paragraph. The same goes for "youma" and "monster." And for some reason, I am finding that I cannot call Mamoru a "boy," and I cannot call Usagi a "woman." I find it really repetitive referring to them as "girl" and "man." It irks me.  
  
Just because Usagi was accustomed to fighting with her senshi did not mean that she was atrocious at fighting individually. Oftentimes in battle, however, she did feel a pang of longing. One cannot blame her for missing the senshi's presence. There were times when all the monster required was a high-energy fire attack, but Rei was not there. Between school in a foreign country, fighting the monsters at night, and teleporting to Tokyo twice a month to heal her parents, she became a pale and wan shadow of her former self. She did not meet Mark and his friends much as a civilians anymore, they being busy with college and she being busy with her schoolwork. Traces of them remained in school however, ranging from the kind action of a stranger to help of Jeanine, with whom she had become friends.  
Battles were nowhere near as easy as the first one. Lady Aurora Borealis soon became aware of her strengths and weaknesses, and the monsters were harder than ever to defeat. Often, Malachite could make it, but Zoisite, Jadeite, and Nephrite lived farther away, and it required more strength and time for them to teleport to the battle site. Lady Aurora Borealis seized this lapse, and sent at least two monsters every night, leaving Usagi with little to no sleep. Her Aunt and Uncle were kind and caring, but they didn't understand her woes, and the teachers' tales of her sleeping in class, oversleeping, and tardiness only led them to enforce an earlier curfew, resulting in less time to do her homework and more effort to escape the house.  
And then there was the matter of Candace. Usagi was almost certain that the cheerleader was up to something, but she could not define the girl's motives. Every time Candace approached, Usagi felt a chill of foreboding, but she was not as sensitive as Rei, so Candace's plans were unknown to her. Even as half the school supported her, the other half seemed to enjoy making fun of her accent, her slovenliness, her tardiness, her bad grades, anything and everything about her. Peter "Petey" Hellmann and Joshua (the boy she had slapped and threatened her first night at Blaise's Place) led the football team's dislike of her, while Coral (Candace's top henchwoman and sister-of-the-Rachel-that-Jordan-dumped) led the cheerleaders in their taunts. Candace, surprisingly, stayed out of it for her own reasons. Usagi had even taken to not using her locker because Opal was a willing participant in any number of vicious pranks played on Usagi.  
So when Mark returned one weekend, he was startled to see the change in Usagi's appearance. She had grown thinner, paler, more withdrawn. He tried to cheer her up, and was rewarded with a couple of smiles, but she was bone-tired, almost as much as he, what with all of the monster attacks.  
Although her only communication with her boyfriend and friends was through email, they were not slow to pick up on her distress either. After discussion, Mamoru decided that enough was enough. He was going to visit his beloved.  
Over Thanksgiving break, he departed from Massachusetts, riding a plane (money provided by Mina, whose parents had recently become millionaires of sorts) to Missouri, as to visit his girlfriend.  
  
Usagi smiled at her Uncle Rick's question and responded almost mindlessly with pleasantries. She was too tired to think of an original answer to his questions, and muttered something about assemblies and parties when asked about school. She was glad that Thanksgiving Break had finally arrived. After an all-nighter the previous night, she had actually gained some sleep this morning, sleeping until noon before awaking. Feeling much more refreshed than usual, she had finished up her homework, and had called Uncle Rick as per request. (He had wanted to make sure that she remembered where the frozen dinners were, as she tended to dig up the entire refrigerator in her search for food.) Now, her frozen dinner was in the microwave when the doorbell rang. Bidding her Uncle goodbye, she put down the phone and looked out the window, only to see her beloved Mamo- chan.  
She blinked once, thinking she was hallucinating. The doorbell rang again. Moments later, the door was open and she was in her Mamo-chan's arms. Mamoru chuckled, and put his arms around her, taking in the scent of her hair. "You missed me?" he murmured in Japanese.  
"Of course," she whispered back, safe in her Mamo-chan's arms.  
"Can I come in?" he teased, "or will your uncle not let strangers in the house? Am I condemned to remain on the doorstep for the rest of my life?"  
Usagi rolled her eyes and dragged him inside. "What are you doing in here?" she wanted to know.  
"I came to see you, of course," Mamoru chuckled. His face grew serious. "Usagi, is everything all right?"  
Usagi sighed and leaned into her boyfriend's arms. "I'm just tired, that's all," she sighed. "What with all of the monster fights and school and healing my parents ..." she trailed off.  
"About that," Mamoru said. "I've been thinking, and I contacted Ami about it. Next time you visit, take me along with you. I have the power of the Golden Crystal, which is more attuned to the Earth and healing. Perhaps I can help you, and ease some of your burden."  
Usagi nodded, turning around and hugging her Mamo-chan close. "You're the best boyfriend ever," she whispered. "I love you."  
"I love you, too," Mamoru replied, dipping his mouth down for what was going to be a chaste kiss. In moments, the chaste kiss had turned into something deeper and more passionate. Before things could progress, however, the sound of a key turning in a lock sounded, and the kiss was interrupted by Mark standing in the doorway.  
Mark had planned on coming home earlier than usual to surprise Usagi. He was the one who was surprised when he entered the doorway to see his innocent little cousin passionately kissing a random tall, dark, and handsome stranger. A surge of sworn loyalty (where had that come from?), overprotective-ness, and shock flew through him so quickly he could barely identify them. The loyalty was the most surprising, the shock was the most prominent.  
"Serena?" he ventured.  
Serena and the man broke apart from each other, both blushing. She muttered something to him that Mark could not hear, something that sounded like, "No eye contact" in Japanese. Or perhaps it was: "Do this right." He blinked.  
"An introduction would be nice," he drawled, raising an eyebrow.  
"Mark, this is M-, Darien," she corrected herself at the last minute. "His English name is Darien." She did not know why the Generals remembered Minako's and Rei's name, but not hers, but she didn't question the stroke of luck, and didn't feel like testing Fate. "Darien, this is my cousin Mark."  
Mark found, to his confusion, that Darien did not look directly at him, but seemed to look at a point behind him. He knew several people who did that, and it was always very unnerving, a problem to do with their vision, he guessed. "Do Mom and Dad know he's here?" Meg, his "mother" would probably be ecstatic, but he knew his "father" well enough to know that the man would freak. Frederick Stone had very firm set of beliefs about "courting," "beaux," and "abstinence." He would be very unpleased to find his half-niece-in-law (or something like that) kissing a strange man in his living room.  
Serena blushed. "Umm ... no," she admitted. "I do not know he will come until today. He wanted to surprise me." She looked adoringly up into Darien's eyes, and Mark felt a pang of envy for their obviously loving relationship.  
"How old is he?" Mark asked suspiciously, looking at the height difference with something akin to wariness.  
"20," Darien said. His accent was faint, having lived in America for long enough to perfect his already good English. (He didn't obtain the scholarship to Harvard based on his looks.)  
Mark blinked. "You're dating someone four years older than you? And your parents were okay with that?"  
"Well, it depends on what you mean by okay," she said evasively. At Mark's stern look, she elaborated. "Mom liked him. Dad? Well, Dad ..." she struggled for the right word. "Mamo-chan," she asked, "how do you say," and then she let out a spiel in Japanese that Mark was too lazy to puzzle out.  
Darien chuckled. "He had an unhealthy obsession with shotguns whenever I came over," he translated.  
"He had an unhealthy obs- obsh- well, what he said," Serena gave up.  
Mark chuckled. "Well, what are you going to tell Mom and Dad?"  
Serena blinked. "The truth," she said simply.  
"Are you serious?" Mark raised an eyebrow. "Dad, at least, would freak. Mom would probably coo all over you, but that might be worse, in your opinion."  
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before," Serena shrugged.  
"Whatever," Mark said, figuring that it was Serena's business whether or not her boyfriend was interrogated and executed if not found worthy. "Anyways, Jordan, Zach, and Nick are coming back, in case you wanted to know. They wanted to know if you wanted to see the newest Star Wars movies with them."  
"Are you not going?" Serena wanted to know.  
Mark raised an eyebrow. "Me? Star Wars?" He pretended to gag at the thought. "I don't know what Jordan, Zack, and Nick see in that stupid movie."  
Serena, who did not understand enough English to truly appreciate the movie or form an opinion of it other than the fact that "Princess Leia had way weirder hair than she did" (paraphrased), shrugged. "Jordan likes to call himself Jedi Master because of movie?" she asked skeptically. "Of this movie," she automatically corrected herself.  
"Jedi Master?" Darien chuckled, entering the conversation of his own volition for the first time. "I have not seen the movie yet, but one of my roommates is a fanatic who plasters posters all over his side of the dorm room. He, too, claims to be a Jedi Master. This is something all Star Wars admirers claim?"  
"Apparently," Mark snorted, rolling his eyes. "Anyways," he turned back to Serena. "Are you going to see Star Wars with them?"  
"No," Usagi said without hesitation. "Tell them I would love to another weekend, but I want to spend all of my time with my Mamo-chan."  
"Mamo-chan?" Mark asked curiously, the name striking a chord within him.  
Usagi's eyes widened at her slip, and she frantically searched for an explanation, but she did not need to. Luna, who had resided with the Stone family ever since her crescent moon was temporarily removed (it wasn't a problem because Aunt Meg loved cats), slinked up to Mark, and scratched his leg with her rather sharp claws matter-of-factly before dodging to hide behind Serena.  
Mark swore as he looked from the shredded hem of his pants to the cat hiding behind Serena. "I swear, your cat hates me," he grumbled.  
"At least she didn't draw blood," Serena pointed out, thankful for the distraction. So saying, she bent down and scooped the midnight-black cat into her arms.  
"Ahem," Darien cleared his throat. "I have to find a place to stay, at an inn, somewhere, and I might as well do it now. Do you know of any near here?"  
"An inn?" Mark blinked. "You know how to get downtown?"  
Darien nodded.  
"First right, second exit ..."  
Usagi tuned Mark out as he began to get into technicalities and concentrated instead on the security she felt within her Mamo-chan's arms. A she leaned into her arms, she was unaware of the fact that the Silver Crystal and the Golden Crystal (with their slightly-sentient abilities) were communing. What they were communing about? Well ...  
  
There were two objects in the darkness (the darkness being metaphorical, the two objects glowing with a powerful aura and a faint scent of intelligence).  
One pulsed golden.  
The other pulsed silver.  
The first pulsed golden twice, then projected an image of a man bending over a bed to kiss a young girl.  
The second pulsed silver thrice, then projected an image of a girl clasped in the arms of a man.  
They both pulsed simultaneously before more images were projected, of a magnificent palace and a dreadful war, a beautiful princess and her handsome prince, a woman wracked with jealousy and a dark monster. These images progressed to those of a young girl and a young man bickering, kissing, fighting, crying, laughing, and reuniting. There were images of wronged innocence, of restored beauty, of peace and serenity, and of Kaos and Konfusion.  
This was what had passed.  
The first pulsed golden, then projected an image of a young man's fierce love for his girlfriend.  
The second pulsed silver, then projected an image of the confusion and weariness of a girl-who-was-not-yet-a-woman on her own for the first time.  
They pulsed together, before projecting to the other a complex jumble of emotions and feelings that only the other could interpret, as well as a series of images of one that was all and none, but supreme in its hunger for power.  
This was what took place now.  
The first pulsed golden, then projected an image of a weeping girl, as her family was torn away from her.  
The second pulsed silver, then projected an image of a young man torn between his love and his newly-found family.  
Then, for one last time, they shared images of a terrible fight, of a wonderful love, of forgiveness and mercy, of relentlessness and impassion, of deaths and lives, of knowledge and ignorance, and of a deep, cold freeze that would heal the world for its rebirth.  
This was what would come to be.  
  
Usagi was crouched upon the limb of a tree, body tense with anticipation. She knew that Tuxedo Kamen crouched on the opposite side of the wide street, waiting for the right moment to strike. Malachite was the only available to fight, per usual, but she could feel Zoicite's aura nearing at an alarming rate. In fact, she noted, if he did not slow down, he would soon crash into something. Malachite was staggering back under the blow of the blue, humanoid youma with origins on another planet, and Usagi was preparing to interfere, when Zoicite arrived, Nephrite at his side. Usagi mentally cursed herself for not noticing that Nephrite's aura hid behind Zoicite's, an elementary trick Luna had tried to teach her again and again to spot it, to no avail.  
The two leapt at once, and struck simultaneously at the blue humanoid's back, only to have their swords bounce off. Of course. Malachite was the best fencer by far, and if he could not defeat the monster in that manner, then what had possessed them to do so? They did, however, distract the monster long enough for Malachite to back away into safety.  
Usagi pulled out her hologram projector, which she had used many times in the recent weeks. She had yet to show the enemy (or the Guardians) her true face. Her hologram's face was a blur, with nut-brown hair that kind of frizzed in a halo that obscured the rest of her. She projected this image right in front of the monster, distracting it. "Star Saber Revolution!" she cried. The customary attack hit the youma, who stumbled but did not fall. At that same exact moment, however, her hologram flickered out of existence, and she swore under her breath. The hologram-creator must have run out of juice, and needed to be recharged by Ami. That would take days, days which she did not have.  
Usagi, she heard her soul-mate whisper in her head. I have an idea. She obediently listened, and asked Luna for help with the harder Lunarian words she could not pronounce in the spell she was to cast. Slowly, she steeled herself. Just as the youma approached Zoicite and Nephrite and rose to destroy them, Tuxedo Kamen dived down and began fighting the monster with his cane. To the rest of the Guardians, however, he looked like Jadeite, albeit an intense and furiously silent Jadeite.  
While maintaining this spell, Usagi cast her customary "Star Saber Revolution," although she twisted the attack by tacking a "-light" at the end of her "Star," so it was "Starlight Saber Revolution." The attack cut into the monster, who roared as it was struck, and fell into the ground.  
At that moment, the temporary spell she had cast on Tuxedo Kamen fell off, and the Guardians gaped to see Jadeite flicker into a man who looked vaguely familiar. Before they could wonder where they had seen him before, he leapt off into the sky, and a blonde cloaked in shadows (the shadow- cloak being a useful piece of clothing Usagi had learned to make through her Lunarian magic book, even though it was flawed, and only worked completely in the moonlight), raising her own hand to her forehead, and then touching her hand to the monster. The monster cried out with such agony in his voice that even the girl flinched, before fading away.  
The girl hesitated there for a moment, looking at the youma with an odd look on her eyes, when the air around her seemed to flash. She moved to jump back, but it was too late. Lady Aurora Borealis had appeared, and around the girl was a golden cage.  
"I knew," the Lady crowed, "that eventually you would show up. I knew that eventually it would be you and not your shadow that would be caught in this cage. Aren't I right?" she addressed someone they could not see standing right next to her.  
"It was luck," the voice said coldly. "My plan would have worked had not her hologram-creator conveniently run out of juice. As it was, fortune frowned upon me and smiled upon you. Not for long, however, especially not if you insist on showing your face to them."  
"What can it hurt?" the Lady asked. "After all, they've seen me before." Before she could continue, a single rose struck one of the bars of the golden cage. The entire cage flickered for a moment, before one of the bars apparently shattered. The girl leapt out sideways, and the back of her right hand grazed one of the bars. She let out a yelp, and looked down at her hand, which had burnt or electrocuted by the bars.  
The lady cursed most fluently in a language that Usagi could not understand, and raised her hand. Bolts of lightning formed in her palm and she hurled them at Usagi without pausing. Usagi dodged them agilely, thanking the heavens that her transformations always imbued her with flexibility that she did not normally possess. She did realize that she was quickly tiring, and it would not be long before one of the bolts struck her.  
Just as she was beginning to wonder how much longer she would be able to keep this up, help came in the form of Malachite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and Tuxedo Kamen. Attacking at the same time, they struck from different directions, distracting the lady long enough for her to slip into the shadows. The invisible, however, was not so easily put off, and even as Usagi breathed a sigh of relief, she tensed as she sensed a dark aura next to her.  
"That was a close escape," the voice said.  
"It was," Usagi said noncommittally, wondering what on earth was going to happen now.  
"I did a little research," the voice continued. "Apparently, just before the appearance of you, a young girl named Tsukino Usagi moved here because of a tragic car accident."  
Usagi stiffened.  
"At school, she called herself Serena, and made many enemies. Among these was Candace Rogers, who hired enough people to follow poor Serena around until one day, they caught her mid-trasnformation."  
Usagi was wondering whether she should believe the invisible one.  
"I managed to get my hands on one of the many copies of this picture, which is even now being passed into the hands of the school newspaper editor. Not very impressive, a little blurry, but certainly quite convincing."  
"Enough of this," Usagi snarled. She struck, her saber flashing up in a flash of light, in an attack that purely physical with no magical aid.  
The invisible one was taken aback, and though she dodged, she was not quick enough to escape the blade. As a result, the blade cut away whatever piece of cloth had kept her invisible, as well as sliced into her arm.  
A dark-haired woman wearing a blue silk toga that was slipping away, unraveled, appeared out of nowhere, cursing. She raised her own weapon, a peculiar, hook-shaped tool that she used to slash at Usagi's face. Usagi knew better than to assume that it was ordinary, and threw up a hasty magical shield that was easily torn through, but kept the hook from reaching her.  
Usagi quickly flashed her saber, attempting to disarm the woman. The woman, however, was skilled with the hook, and Usagi's only saber-skills came from her magical guise. The two had a brief, but furious battle that was made all the more dangerous because of the close quarters in which they fought. Neither had the time to cast extensive magical attacks, nor the distance required so that the attacker would be safe from the magical attack.  
Only when the sun rose did the woman back off. "My name is Petra," she spat. "Remember and fear me. When next I come, I will be better prepared, and you shall not hold me off so easily."  
"And I," Usagi said, "am called the Guardian of the Moon in this guise." Seeing no reaction from the woman, Usagi continued. "I have also been called by some Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity. I was even addressed as the Messiah once."  
Petra shrunk away. "A lie!" she hissed.  
"I represent truth, love, and justice, and will champion the innocents. Would you like to know who I have defeated and helped to defeat?" Usagi hoped this intimidation would scare some information out of Petra.  
"None are so great as the Creator, S/He who is all and none, multifaceted in his greatness," Petra narrowed her eyes.  
"Now even Chaos?" Usagi asked.  
"Petra, we must go," Dark Lady Aurora Borealis tossed her head before splitting into two. Borealis stepped forward. "I shall remain."  
"But the Creator wants us back," Aurora said, looking pointedly at Petra.  
Petra shuddered, before making a motion to teleport.  
Usagi, seeing that Petra was about to escape, made a grab at the woman, but only succeeded in ripping off a piece of her peculiar toga before the woman disappeared amidst sparkles.  
"Can you track the teleport?" she heard her soulmate ask Zoisite.  
"I can," Nephrite said. He closed his eyes and focused on the auras of their enemies. "Dammit!" He swore. "I can't get a sharper focus than Tokyo."  
"Tokyo?" Usagi stepped out. "Not there?" Her voice betrayed her exasperation. "Again?"  
Malachite coughed. "Mayhaps you could introduce yourself," he suggested. "You," he gestured toward Mamoru, "are Tuxedo Kamen, or Chiba Mamoru, aka Prince Endymion, although what you're doing here I cannot imagine. We are supposed to seek you out and swear loyalty to you next year, but not yet, certainly."  
Tuxedo Kamen looked blank. "Swear loyalty?"  
Jadeite, who had appeared sometimes in the middle of Usagi's short battle with Petra, came up with the brightest idea. "Why don't we discuss this over a cup of coffee at the nearest Starbucks?"  
  
To be continued ...  
  
Let's just assume that he has it, okay? 


End file.
